Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

Cliffe, Harry

Xanthisma texanum var. drummondii

Xanthisma texanum DC. var. drummondii (Torr. & A. Gray) A. Gray

Drummond's Sleepy Daisy, Yellow Sleepy Daisy, Drummond's Sleepy-daisy, Drummond's Sleepydaisy

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Synonym(s): Xanthisma texanum ssp. drummondii

USDA Symbol: XATED

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Yellow Sleepy Daisy has lemon-yellow flowers that do not open until about noon; hence, the name "sleepy daisy." The flower head is 1 1/2 inches across and grows at the tip of the stems. The plant grows 10-30 inches tall, with alternate leaves attached directly to the stem. The lower ones are larger, 1-2 1/2 inches long, and deeply lobed or toothed. Upper leaves are rarely toothed (248).

The variety name of this plant is named for Thomas Drummond, (ca. 1790-1835), naturalist, born in Scotland, around 1790. In 1830 he made a trip to America to collect specimens from the western and southern United States. In March, 1833, he arrived at Velasco, Texas to begin his collecting work in that area. He spent twenty-one months working the area between Galveston Island and the Edwards Plateau, especially along the Brazos, Colorado, and Guadalupe rivers. His collections were the first made in Texas that were extensively distributed among the museums and scientific institutions of the world. He collected 750 species of plants and 150 specimens of birds. Drummond had hoped to make a complete botanical survey of Texas, but he died in Havana, Cuba, in 1835, while making a collecting tour of that island.